Concept
Values-based action
Values-based action is Harris's replacement for the inner critic as a guide: instead of asking whether you feel confident or whether the thought is true, ask what you want to stand for in this situation (honesty, curiosity, contribution) and take the action that value would take.
A goal can be failed; a value can only be acted on or not, which makes it a better guide for a person who is afraid. The person who values honesty can act honestly while afraid of the reaction; the person who values contribution can ask the question while afraid of looking slow. Harris has people write two or three words for what they want to stand for as a colleague, a parent, a friend, and then, at the door of the frightening room, ask what those words would do next. The move sidelines the critic without silencing it: the thought is present, the value is in charge. It also gives the evidence list a shape, since every act taken on a value is a vote for the person you are trying to become, in Clear's sense, and Frankl's meaning over happiness is the same principle at the scale of a life.
A real-life example
A municipal planner in Kocaeli values honesty and keeps nodding through projects she thinks are badly sited. Before the next committee meeting she writes the word at the top of her notes and asks what an honest planner would say. She says it, with her voice tight: the site floods every spring. The committee asks for a drainage study.
How to use it
- 1Write two or three words for what you want to stand for in the situation where confidence is low.
- 2At the door, ask what those words would do next, not whether you feel ready.
- 3Record each act taken on a value; it is a vote for the person you are becoming.